There have in the past been attempts to design and construct enclosures for lawn care devices such as lawn mowers and garden tractors. These attempts, however, are mostly limited to shed-type enclosures that are large enough for operator, as well as equipment entry. Such sheds, however, are difficult to install for may people and are further beyond the affordability of many homeowners and renters that care for their own lawn yet have a desire to protect their lawn mower from the elements as well as vandalism.
There have also been a few attempts to manufacture small enclosures for lawn mowers that enclose only the lawn mower itself. There prior lawn mower enclosures have been almost solely portable enclosures that usually require the user to lift them away from the lawn mower for use. The disadvantage with such enclosures is that they are difficult to lift and subject to theft because they are usually left outdoors for long periods of time unattended.
Examples of these small lawn mower enclosures are found in the Knuth, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,087,585 and the Sur, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,178,977. Knuth, et al. show a flexible front apron constructed of rubber and slitted having holes to accommodate the mower handle. It is necessary in the Knuth cover to remove the entire cover from the mower to get the mower out of the cover. Such a construction would not be operable if permanently affixed to the ground. The Sur. et al. cover consists of two plastic shells that can be adjusted to fit over different sized lawn mowers. It appears that the Sur, et al. cover is also not designed to be affixed to the ground because it must be lifted upwardly for removal of the mower.
While not believed directly relevant to lawn mower enclosures, the Hartger, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,528 shows a bike, motorcycle, snowmobile, molded plastic shed having a pivotal door that permits entrance and egress relative to a module. The Hartger construction encloses the entire vehicle.
Several other patents have been found that show various types of covers with locks, namely; Holladay, U.S. Pat. No. 479,942; Bramblett, U.S. Pat. No. 2,311,514, Davis, U.S. Pat. No. 3,474,803, and British Patent Specification No. 864,958, published Apr. 12, 1961.